US Sanctions 3 Hezbollah Officials, Including 2 Members of Lebanese Parliament

This combination of three photo shows, from left, Wafiq Safa, a top Hezbollah security official, and Lebanon Parliament members Muhammad Hasan Ra’d and Amin Sherri in Beirut. The U.S. Treasury Department is imposing sanctions on the three men.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government announced new sanctions Tuesday on three senior officials of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah for its role in undermining Lebanon’s financial system and assisting Iran’s agenda in the country.

The targeted Hezbollah officials are Amin Sherri, Muhammad Hasan Ra’d and Wafiq Safa. Sherri and Ra’d are members of the Lebanese parliament, while Safa is known to be a major Hezbollah facilitator.

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, June 17, 2019.

State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, June 17, 2019.

This is the first time that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has targeted members of the Lebanese parliament who are affiliated with Hezbollah, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.

“They have assisted the Iranian regime in its efforts to undermine Lebanese sovereignty,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said during a press conference Tuesday.

“These officials have exploited their positions to smuggle illicit goods into Lebanon, undermining Lebanese financial institutions to assist Hezbollah and to evade U.S. sanctions against Hezbollah facilitators and financiers,” she added.

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Joel Cholo Brooks is a Liberian journalist who previously worked for several international news outlets including the BBC African Service. He is the CEO of the Global News Network which publishes two local weeklies, The Star and The GNN-Liberia Newspapers. He is a member of the Press Union Of Liberia (PUL) since 1986, and several other international organizations of journalists, and is currently contributing to the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation as Liberia Correspondent.